The Curious Case of the Paranormal Romance Book Club
by Eris Van Hellsing
Summary: The nine members of the Paranormal Romance Book Club had no idea that supernaturals existed, let alone that they would be kidnapped and forced to wed their royal children. But first.. the Princes and Princesses must compete for the hands that they wish for, unless they want them to be snatched up by someone else. PBC AU Warnings in first chapter
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"_Far, far below the deepest delvings of the dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things."  
― J.R.R. Tolkien_

The Keeper of the Ancient Words stepped up onto the podium and ran his hands nervously through his ponytail. He glared at one of his son, Kaoru, who had just arrived with the text that he needed. The King of the Unseelie Faeries coughed impatiently and the young Keeper ran up to his father and practically threw the text at him. Queen Mab rolled her eyes at her husband. "Keeper Yao Wang, can you not get on with the opening ceremony?"

Yao caught the book his son tossed him, with a pointed glare in his direction as Kaoru returned to his other siblings. The Keeper cleared his throat and began.

"Greetings to you, the Peoples of Fae. I, the Leader of the Keepers, would like to begin the Festival of Fertility. As you know, this festival occurs every one hundred years to commemorate the peace treaty with the humans that allowed both of our worlds to live side by side in harmony. Earlier this year, we completed the Festival of the Barren and sent eight of our own that the human leaders picked to their world to wed their children. Now, the Keepers have been sent out to choose and retrieve the humans that will become one of us. Many of our royal families have participated in this festival; some even are products of it."

A low murmur swept through the crowd of commoners as the various royal families either beamed or shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Many of the Queens, Queen Titania in particular, glared at those who would not keep still and silent. It was no secret that a three of the wives of the Fae Kings were second wives, the human wives having died giving birth. Whether or not the babies survived were a mystery.

"As is tradition, the royal children of each family must prepare for fourteen challenges, one for each of the tribes of the Fae. We will rank each participant on a point system. The top eight winners will pick one of the humans to be their consort and may wed them if they wish. There are no exceptions, all must participate." With those final words, the Keeper of the Ancient Texts, Yao Wang, left the stage. The commoners were beginning the festivities and the royals, along with their advisors, were moving to a tent nearby for a banquet. Yao Wang, being the King of the Keepers (and therefore the Keeper of the Ancient Texts) was required to join with them.

One look inside said tent told him that it was probably a danger zone. King Winter and Queen Mab of the Unseelie Court were arguing… again. The Seelie royals were giving each other the silent treatment. King Draicon was bragging that the dragonoids were the best and that his daughter would win a great trophy of a human consort. The Changeling King Midas was going on and on about how fabulous his son was with King Vladimir and Queen Florica of the Vampire Clan. The Merfolk royal, King Triton was talking with the Ghost royals, King Berwald and Queen Tino, about how similar being dead was to swimming. Berwald, as usual, did not look amused, while his formerly human wife, Tino, was in shock. _Of course he would be Yao. Remember? Tino, that poor boy, died by drowning! It may have been seventy-five years ago, but surely your memory isn't that bad._ Yao moved on, a little frustrated that he could not find the royal he was looking for. There was King Helsing of the Werewolf Clan with his two children, there was Queen Hecate of the Witches with her son, there were the Angel and Demon Queens, Hera and Netikerty. _Where is that oaf?_

Suddenly, he was stopped by the King of the Nature Spirits, Francis. "_Bonjour mon cher!_ Our great Keeper of the Texts, I was wondering if I might participate in this year's tournament." The Keeper thought for a moment. The King Francis had never had any children or a wife, had just inherited his throne very recently (about two years ago) and the only other royal was his younger brother Prince Matthew. By Fae standards, though Francis held the title of King, until he was married the Blood Oath would still recognize him as Crown Prince. "Actually, I believe you are supposed to. The Blood Oath will not recognize you as King until you are married anyway." Then the Frenchman blew a kiss and left without so much as a goodbye. While glaring at the stupid Nymph, he almost missed the person he was looking for. "King Romulas! KING ROMULAS! Yes, I'm talking to you."

The King of the Seers turned around from where he was talking with the Crown Princes, Lovino and Feliciano, and stared at the Keeper for a moment. "What do you want Yao?" The Keeper glared for a moment before the Seer got the picture. "Ohhhhh… Boys, if you would mind, I need to speak with our Keeper for a moment." As the boys walked away, the Seer King went rigid. Then, he opened his eyes and smiled at the Keeper. "Don't worry, your child is well and the eight have been located. They will be transported here tomorrow."

**I know, a few of the names of the royals are far from original, but I was running out of ideas and countries. Anyway, next chapter I will reveal our eight victims. If anyone asks why Finland is a Queen, I should mention that whoever marries into the royal family is considered the Queen, unless they are a boy marrying a royal girl, and then they can be King. There is also a reason that both Lovino and Feliciano are Crown Princes.**

**For now, here are our characters (Sorry about the Length):**

King Winter: General Winter

Queen Mab: Queen Mab

King Oberon: King Oberon

Queen Titania: Queen Titania

King of Keepers Yao: China

Prince Kaoru: Hong Kong

King Draicon: Absolutely no one

King Midas: King Midas

King Vladimir: Dracula

Queen Florica: The Gypsies

King Triton: Atlantis

King Berwald: Sweden

Queen Tino: Finland

King Helsing: Abraham van Helsing

Queen Hecate: Hecate the Witch (Macbeth)

Queen Hera: Ancient Greece

Queen Netikerty: Ancient Egypt

King/Crown Prince Francis: France

Prince Matthew: Canada

Crown Prince Feliciano: Italy

Crown Prince Lovino: Romano

King Romulas: Roman Empire


	2. Another Day at the Club

**This is actually based on a story I've been planning to write in my free time, but I'm stuck on writing out the characters. So, I used the wonderful Hetalia as my dry run! The story I'm actually writing will be quite a bit different, but it will contain the same basic ideas. In fact, the title I was originally going to give my story ended up being the one for this one (quite creative isn't it). **

**One last thing, I'm rating this M to be safe because of the cursing and some of the more mature themes in it. There will also be violence, alcohol and (possibly) drug use, and France. There will not be any smut in this. There may be hints or mentions or even kissing and "then the lights go out" kind of thing. Sorry if you were looking forward to that.**

**And with that, let the games begin!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. If I did, the characters would be doing… a lot of things I won't mention.**

Another Day at the Club

_"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." _  
-_Lord of the Rings, _J.R.R. Tolkien

Arthur groaned as the girls (once again) went on and on about whether Derek or Simon would be a better match for Chloe. Mentally, the British boy was going through the exact reasons he even consented to join this club. The notorious club in question being the Paranormal Romance Book Club. Sure, the Hetalia World Academy required all of their students to participate in at least one club for one semester, but still, why didn't he join one of the more… normal clubs like Chorus or Band or even Swimming (even if he was horrible at them) or better yet, he could have started a club! But no, he had to join this one. Why? His best friend, Alfred, talked him into it. Apparently Alfred was into some pretty girl in the club- he believed her name was Katyusha- and wanted to use the opportunity to get closer to her. That meant Arthur, being his best friend and "wingman", was required to attend as well.

The argument on the other side of the room was getting heated. Both the aforementioned Katyusha and another girl, Mei, were fiercely defending Simon as a sweet guy worthy of the female protagonist's love, while Michelle and, surprisingly, Lili were arguing that Derek would the better choice. Arthur half listened, hoping that they would move on to a more interesting topic. Arthur himself was guilty of joining in on the club's conversations and arguments from time to time when they touched topics on magic and magical creatures. Still, the meetings that ended up on who should end up with whom and the merits of the male leads were… long and boring. Arthur was not alone in this thought however. All of the guys in the club who came could care less about those things (oddly enough there were more guys than girls in said club).

A quick glance around the room brought Arthur to the conclusion that everyone was doing their usual activities. Vash, who was there because of his near obsessive need to protect Lili, was reading a book on guns. _Seriously, do any of the guys read the assigned books except for me?_ Yes, unfortunately as soon as his sisters, Kaelin and Evelyn, had found out that he was in the PBC, they made him read every book on the list and bought him all of the sequels. At least they were happy about it. If one of his four brothers had found out about the club, Arthur would never here the end of it. A loud noise to his right brought him out of his thoughts as he observed Gilbert's head hit the table. Apparently the loud-mouthed, self-proclaimed "Prussian" albino was asleep again. His younger brother, Ludwig, pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to ignore the loud snoring of his brother. That pair had a rather interesting reason for being there. Gilbert was there purely to pick up girls, but after he realized that there weren't that many girls, he stayed anyway. Arthur suspected it was because it annoyed Ludwig, who was forced to come because his brother was the only ride he had back to their apartment.

There also was, of course, the reason why he was here in the first place. Alfred seemed perfectly content to get his homework done early while Arthur was forced to listen to the females prattle on. Unfortunately for Arthur, he had done his homework in class. _Maybe I could check through a few math problems… Anything to ease the boredom._ Just then, a loud ring echoed throughout the classroom, startling Gilbert and ending the girls' very heated debate. Alfred pulled his smartphone out of his pocket and put a single finger up so the rest of them would be quiet. After checking the caller id, the teenager answered the call. Within seconds, muffled shouting filled the room as the poor teen was chewed out.

The voice on the other line was deep and unrecognizable to Arthur, so he peered over his friend's shoulder as Alfred held the phone away from his ear. _Carlos._ Carlos was Alfred's foster brother. Yes, Alfred lived in a foster home after a car crash killed his parents and twin brother Matthew. Alfred himself was lucky to be alive. Miss Ghigau Jones was a sweet Cherokee woman whose husband, Theodore Jones, had died before they had had kids. So, she had taken to running a foster home and decided to not remarry. Currently, she was taking care of Carlos (an annoying Cuban boy), Felicitas (a Mexican girl who was born in the U.S., but her father lost his green card and her mother committed suicide), and Alfred. While Miss Jones absolutely adored Alfred, his foster siblings both despised him with a passion. Well… Carlos did. Felicitas and Alfred did get along on occasion, but not at the moment. Not that the relationship between Carlos and Felicitas was any better really. Alfred glared at the phone, trying to decipher his foster brother's incessant yelling, when finally the words, _"Get your ass over here now!"_ were understandable. "Fine. Fine. I'll be on my way home in a minute," Alfred said before hanging up. "Is it okay if I leave?" The girls nodded their heads and Mei piped in, "Don't worry, Al! I think it's about time we finished for the day anyway." A murmur of agreement rose and everyone began grabbing their bags to walk out the door. "Need a ride home?" Arthur asked his friend.

"Nah! But thanks for the offer Artie!" Alfred said, smiling cheerfully as he walked out the door.

"My name is not Artie, you git," Arthur mumbled, but his crazy friend was already gone.

Another day in the club was ended… But for some reason each member couldn't shake off a feeling of foreboding. It settled like a cherry pit in their stomachs, but not a single one could trace its origin. Most shrugged it off as exams coming up.

Ludwig walked into the club that day with the upmost certainty that… his brother couldn't be more annoying.

"Am I awesome little brother or am I awesome?" his brother cackled as he strutted in. Already inside were Katyusha and Mei who were talking with Vash and Lili about joining the Creative Writing class that was going to be started next semester.

"I would prefer not to answer that brother."

The albino looked at his brother with annoyance and then jumped right in front of Ludwig, arms spread wide. "Come on West! Acknowledge my awesomeness! You can't help it!" This was replied to with a smack on the head and said brother simply walking past him. Gilbert pouted and sat in his usual chair, which was on wheels, and spun around a few times. Arthur and Alfred then walked in with Michelle. Once they were all seated, last week's debate began once again, but this time poor Katyusha was all alone in defending Simon. Ludwig sat with the other boys in their usual seats and began to study for the exams coming up. It was at this point that Gilbert took it upon himself to poke his baby brother over and over... and over… and over until he got aforementioned baby brother's attention. With a heavy sigh, Ludwig turned in his seat towards his brother who was spinning around in the teacher's chair. "What is it?"

"I'm boooooored."

"That doesn't give you a reason to be poking me!"

"But I'm booooorrrrrreeeeeed!"

Ludwig quickly scanned the room for a different victim for his brother. The girls were out of the question, he wanted his brother gone, not mauled. Alfred and Arthur were too busy working like himself… well… Arthur was. That left…

"Go bother Vash!"

"WHAT?! Are you kidding me West? I don't want to be shot up the ass!"

Ludwig rubbed his temples, trying to hold back the migraine that was threatening to break loose. "Go bother Alfred then! I AM TRYING TO WORK!"

"Fine West! Sheeesh."

Both brothers glanced over to see that the girls had temporarily stopped their conversation to observe the brothers. Gilbert smirked playfully at the staring girls and Ludwig allowed his forehead to hit the table with a resounding SMACK, hoping it would knock him unconscious. It did not. Luckily, his brother did not bother him for the rest of the meeting.

When it became close to time to leave, Mei made her announcement. "Alright! So, while you guys pack up, you need to know that we girls decided to add a book that wasn't on the list. And yes, you will be required to participate in the discussion!" The boys groaned. "And no spark noting!" Gilbert and Alfred groaned louder. "Now here you go!" Then Mei began handing out books from a small cardboard box to the rest of the group. Each person peered at the inside cover to find the title because the black leather-bound front of the book was blank. Mei squinted at the cover and whispered, "I don't remember ordering something like this… Where are the flowers?"

Then everything went dark.

**So that's the first official chapter of my story. I hope none of you are disappointed or anything. Reviews are welcome and I don't mind if it's constructive criticism, but let's keep it constructive. I do have my own style of writing that I try to obtain but if there's too much repetition or misspellings and whatnot, let me no. If it isn't a part of my style I'll try and fix the issue.**

**So here's the big issue. I don't really have any planned pairings for this project (I had two planned, but I decided it wouldn't be fair, OTPs or no). So, because this is my shameless fanservice (not really)/ fanfiction version, I am going to host a poll, here on my story. Here are my only rules: If they were mentioned in this chapter and are not the nine members of the club, they cannot be voted on. If they were mentioned in the last chapter and are not mentioned within the next two chapters as competing, they cannot be voted on. Lastly, the members of the club cannot be paired together regardless of what happens over the next two chapters. I know, I myself like seeing some of these characters paired together (despite the fact that none of them together are my OTPs), but considering that this fic is based on people competing for their hands in marriage, that's just too awkward. One thing you can do is pair competitors together, but try and keep most of your voting for our eight main. If any of you are confused why there are eight main characters and nine members, that will be revealed in the next chapter (although it's probably already been guessed. Begin voting because that influences who wins what competitions and the runners up!**

**Now for characters and countries. The author's note will probably not be this long again.**

Arthur Kirkland (England), Alfred Jones (America), Katyusha Braginskaya (Ukraine), Mei Xiao (Taiwan), Michelle Kirkland (Seychelles), Lili Zwingli (Leichtenstein), Vash Zwingli (Switzerland), Kaelin Kirkland (Principality of Wy), Evelyn Kirkland (North Ireland), unmentioned brothers (Sealand, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland), Gilbert Beilschmidt (Prussia), Ludwig Beilschmidt (Germany), Carlos Jones (Cuba), Ghigau Jones (Native America), Felicitas Jones (Mexico)


	3. Welcome to Fae!

**Okay so I'm back. No reviews as far as I can see (which is kinda disappointing, but it's just two-ish chapters), but I will whole heartedly lavish love and praise on the several who followed/favorited me. You all have officially made it onto my list of favorite people. So thank you Peteeter, N and S and F, Zemmno, amichalap, kitty2neko, Froggiecool and apple abs for favoriting and/or following my story. You guys are great!**

**Also, due to the delay I will give you the two promised chapters (this one included) and an extra one. Also, due to the lack of reviews I am planning story lines for the characters pairing wise. I already have all five of our male club members down, but I have no clue who to pair the females up with… I have a few ideas concerning Katyusha and Michelle, but none for Lili, because I don't usually read up on her. I'll come up with something. If you guys want to cheer for a competitor, feel free. I'm randomizing who wins before each chapter, but if I get enough people cheering I'll probably give them more points. My dear reviewers still affect the plot.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own. I will never own. I would if I could, but I can't, so I shan't.**

Welcome to Fae!

_"It seemed to travel with her, to sweep her aloft in the power of song, so that she was moving in glory among the stars, and for a moment she, too, felt that the words Darkness and Light had no meaning, and only this melody was real."  
- Madeleine L'Engle, __A Wrinkle in Time_

Bleary eyes opened to stare at a blurry ceiling. Vaguely aware that he was not where he was supposed to be and that this soft and comfy bed was clearly not his, Alfred started to rise up off of the mattress. The ghost feeling of his glasses hanging off his nose inhibited the need to push them back, only to discover that they were missing. So there he was, hair stuck up every which way, glasses missing, legs hanging off the bed, wearing his wrinkled school uniform (sans bomber jacket which he had been forced to leave at home to be washed), when a female walked in. "Alfred! You're finally up! The others are already in the dining hall." Alfred stared up at her blankly, trying to figure out who she was. The voice was very familiar, but he had just woken up from the best nap in ages and he couldn't pinpoint it. "Oh! I forgot your glasses!" Said glasses were shoved onto his face. Alfred worked to adjust them to a more comfortable position and looked back to the female that gave them back to him. It was Mei… Only, it wasn't Mei as he knew her. This Mei was wearing deep red robes, hair free flowing with a crimson lily tucked behind her ear, accompanied with a light layer of makeup powder and lipstick that complimented her extravagant clothing. "come on!" With that, this Mei grabbed his elbow and dragged him out of the room.

He followed her through the maze of winding hallways. It was entirely made of stone bricks that had rounded in who-knows-how-many-years. That, plus the really old looking torches made the whole place seem like some secret medieval castle like in movies. _I wanna go home._ While his foster siblings did piss him off quite a bit, at least it wasn't in this freaky dark ages twilight zone, where he was the victim of some strange kidnapping that one of his best of friends seemed to know about. Finally after what felt like an hour of walking (but was nowhere near that figure), Mei turned into a bright and cheery room filled with the members of the club. They were all laughing and chomping on a feast of meat, fruits, and grains, conversation filling the air. Some people all stood off to the side, dressed in the same deep red as Mei. He was led to the table where the others greeted him fondly and immediately began joking about his "sleeping in". Alfred was confused; _How can they be so happy with this situation?_ He nibbled on a turkey leg and popped a grape in his mouth idly as he wondered this. Then his epiphany came. _There isn't a reason to be unhappy with the situation!_ His reasoning seeming sound, he dived into the food and immersed himself in his friends' cheer. For a while all seemed right with the world.

Then the food ran out and the freaky people watching them dispersed. The calm dissipated into the thin air. Mei and an older man in the male version of her outfit (sans flower, add hairband) came forward. The man cleared his throat and stared ahead, not making eye contact with anyone in the group. "Welcome, cherished ones, to the land of Fae. You eight have very important roles in the lives of our peoples. You eight are going to be the brides of the children of our royals, and by doing so maintain the coexistence between our peoples and the humans. You cannot comprehend how impor-"

"Wait a second!" Gilbert all but yelled. "Did you say brides?"

The man look confused for a moment. "Yes, I did say brides."

"But most of us are dudes! The awesome me is no one's bride."

The man, whom Alfred thought was probably Asian, rolled his eyes like he expected this kind of response. "Among our people the bride is anyone anticipated to not be the more dominant partner in the relationship (A chorus of groans of disbelief from the guys and knowing looks from the girls). I know this may be different for you but you are marrying into 'supernatural' royal families. It is unlikely that you will be the more demanding ones."

"Why isn't Mei with is?" asked Michelle.

"Mei is my daughter. She was sent to your world to find eight teens with the mark and bring them here. I believe she was very lucky to find you all in one place, all together," he answered.

"Who are you?"

"I am the leader of the Keepers, the Keeper of the Ancient Texts, Keeper Yao."

"What are the Keepers?"

"One of the fourteen tribes of Fae. We have been responsible for keeping peace among the fourteen tribes for millennia and are responsible for hosting all of the ceremonies and festivities of the Fae. Because my children are royals, they too will be participating in the challenges for your hands." A collective exchange of glances occurred between the club members, but before a single one could ask another question, Keeper Yao raised his hand and they were silenced. Alfred's eyes bulged from his head as he couldn't make sounds with his throat. _What the hell? Who the fuck does this guy think he is?_

"I am the oldest of the Fae royals, Mr. Jones, and I do not appreciate your use of foul language. Please make note that not many of the Kings and Queens will appreciate it either." _Freaky…_

The now-annoyed Keeper pinched the bridge of his nose before finishing his thought. "The opening ceremony is tonight, young ones. You will be expected to be on your best behavior. It may influence who decides to pick you as their spouse. My children will come in and begin escorting you to the bathhouse to wash up and will prepare you for tonight."

The teens surrounding returned as Keeper Yao, apparently their father, left. There were four boys and two girls (including Mei). "Come with us," one of the boys said. He was rather short with big brown eyes and neat black hair that tucked above his chin. They all started to follow when one of the "Keeper" teens yelled, "Not you girls! You're going with Mei and Lien!" Katyusha, Lili, and Michelle stopped in their tracks and looked towards the girls in question, who smiled and gestured for them to follow… in the opposite direction.

As they walked, there were several things Alfred wanted to ask the four guys they were following, but as he opened his mouth, Gilbert decided he had a more important comment. "Okay! How is the awesome me supposed to bottom with my awesome five meters?! I'm not less dominant dammit!"

"You could always end up with a dominatrix."

Every stared at Ludwig who had just piped in. Well, Alfred, Arthur, and Vash did. Gilbert just started laughing. "That's the way to go Luddy!" he whooped and pounded his blushing brother on the back for good measure. "Isn't Luds a kinky bastard?"

"I AM NOT!"

"KESESESESE~! What you just said makes it sound otherwise~!"

"Shut up!" Vash yelled, silencing the retort Ludwig was about to make. Even without his guns, the blonde was formidable. _I never figured out how he snuck them into school…_

The four boys opened the door in front of them. _Huh… when did we stop?_

"Alfred, keep moving," Arthur hissed to Alfred and his best friend shoved him inside.

The room was steamy and kind of damp. Marble walls intensified eerie dark blue-green light around the room, adding with the haunting feel. The water reflected the lights and made the light bounce off the ripples that showed on the walls. The entire place held an air of mystery and spookiness that made the group tense. "Where are we?" asked Arthur. "Is this some secret underground pool to induct us into this new world?"

"No. This is the Bathhouse. Weren't you paying attention? Now strip," one of the other teens ordered.

"WHAAAAAAT?" came the collective shock from the club members.

"I said strip. You want to get clean don't you?"

"Do I have to bath in front of these guys?"

"…."

"Come on! The awesome me has nothing to be ashamed of! Or are you guys afraid you might like what you see kesesesese~!"

"Shut up or I will stick a gun up your ass!"

"Um… Can I opt out of this? It's not like I don't bath at home."

Then the boy from before began shoving the club members into the water with the help of two of his brothers. The other brother just looked away and tried to pretend he was there.

"Now hand us your clothes or I will take them. The originated in Korea after all so I own them!"

The boys knew better than to argue with them and handed over their clothes, although why something originating in Korea (even though most of their clothes did not) had anything to do with why they belonged to this teen made no sense whatsoever. They figured it was better not to ask.

Alfred tried to submerge his entire body under the water, and he wasn't the only one. In fact, Gilbert was the only one not submerging. He joined in the other in their rushed cleaning, but it was hard to ignore the calming effects of the pool. By the time they got out of the water, they found towels and bathrobes laid out for them with room numbers on small scraps of paper. Alfred sighed and left with the others to wander the halls until they found their rooms. Along the way they met up with the girls, who were just as awed. Michelle, of course, was ecstatic.

"Can you believe it? Can you believe it? This is just like in books! Omigosh! This is just like IN THE MOVIES! We're going to be wedded to paranormal creatures! What if I meet a werewolf and a vampire and they start fighting over me? That would be SO AWESOME!"

"Michelle!" Arthur yelled. "This is real life! This is actually happening! And as your older brother, I have to make sure you're safe and you get back home. What about Peter and Kaelin? What about them, huh? We need to get home and back to the family, not wonder around with faeries and werewolves and the like."

The girl looked subdued, for the moment. Alfred almost felt sorry for her. He had been on the receiving end of plenty of Arthur's lectures and understood the whole 'I'm-severely-disappointed-in-you' bit. Still… it was getting kind of annoying. It helped that they actually came across Arthur's room number. Inside was the foul-tempered boy from earlier. "Of course I got stuck with you." Then the door shut.

One-by-one they each found themselves dropped off at their rooms. Alfred was number four. It had gotten down to him, Gilbert, and the girls when his room number came up. The quiet boy was in there and Alfred vaguely wondered as the door shut, _'Is it wise to leave Gilbert with the girls?'_

**Yay! Another chapter finished. I realize Alfred is OOC for this, but I'm trying to get better at writing his character. Any ideas for pairings for the girls feel free to give me an idea. I'm sooo lost on that one. I won't tell you the pairings for anyone else though… I'm too happy with your guessing. If you want to guess that is. Also, in addition to adding on this plus two chapters, I will be trying to add a chapter in before next Monday. Why? Because after that until Saturday I won't have any internet access and I'll be missing another deadline.**


	4. Swearing In

**Review! I actually got review! **

**Peteeter: Don't worry! I plan to see this story through to the end… even if it means I give three chapters every other two weeks because I didn't meet deadline**

**Froggiecool: Thank you for your review! I only ever review if a story interests me freakishly, so I appreciate the review you're giving me. I won't say who I'm pairing people up with (I have a chart), but I promise I'll take your pairing considerations into mind. You did get a couple of my first choices right, but I'm pretty flexible with pairings in general, so… maybe. No promises though. It really depends on if I change my mind on a pairing.**

**Izzy1229anime: I'm glad you think it's intriguing. I hope I don't disappoint.**

**This is the second chapter in my effort to get three done by Thursday. Wooo! I'm making progress. As I said I have all the boys paired up and now Katyusha and maybe Seychelles have pairings but none for Lili. Don't worry I'll think of something! She won't be without lovelies for long! This chapter is also a whole lotta boring. Sorry, but it needs to be done.**

Swearing In

_"'Well,' he thought, 'I've got a new friend, all right. But what a gamble friendship is! Charlotte is fierce, brutal, scheming, bloodthirsty - everything I don't like. How can I learn to like her, even though she is pretty and, of course, clever?'"_

_- E.B. White, Charlotte's Web, Ch. 5_

Gilbert smiled as the four walked down the hall. The place was beautiful, really it was. The entire underground castle had this whole air that seemed to fill each hallway… but he wasn't about to say that.

"Kesesesesese~! Are you girls happy to be with the awesome me? Of course you are!" the albino chortled and wrapped his arms around Lili and Michelle. The two girls looked slightly uncomfortable at being that close in proximity to him, but the self-proclaimed Prussian barely noticed. Unfortunately they found his room number next. "Aw~! I was hoping to have some fun, but I guess I am going to have to leave."

"Bye Gilbert!" Katyusha waved. _Bless her!_

The albino walked into the room assigned to him, but instead of one of the teenage weirdos he saw earlier, there was a blonde guy with longish blonde with deep green eyes wearing bright yellow, pretty much gold, brandishing a hair straightener like it was an actual weapon. "We are going to be needing you fabulous, so get in the chair before I sic my sweet pony on you!"

_That is the weirdest threat I've ever heard…_

After almost fighting with the weird guy who was trying to do his hair, Gilbert found out that he wasn't a member of the Royal Keeper household, in fact he wasn't even a member of the Keeper race/tribe/clan/extended family (?). The guy practically through off his clothes, which was kinda creepy and then proceeded to "totally" make him over. Eventually, Gilbert found himself in boring gray robes that still somehow managed to pull off the royal look. It was freaky. His hair was straightened and hair sprayed nearly to death and, last and most definitely the least favorite addition, he was wearing make-up. Mentally bemoaning the fact that his "awesome" face was covered in this "totally unawesome" addition and outwardly complaining about it every open second as he followed his makeover artist, Gilbert wondered if maybe he could stick his face in one of those basins on the floor he saw lining the hallways. The pair walked down the hallways until Gilbert did try it, only to be stopped last minute by his "artist" and was then informed that those were often used as emergency toilets if one got lost.

_Handy… but ew._

After a very boring twenty minutes of walking in silence, they finally got to the banquet hall. His artist snuck off, but it wasn't too long before Gilbert met up with the rest of the group. They were all were all wearing gray as well, which struck them as strange until they actually thought about. "Maybe there is some significance to the colors here?" suggested Lili. "I saw people wearing all the same colors around the halls earlier. Everyone was wearing white, including the Keepers."

"I noticed that too," said Ludwig. "Maybe it has something to do with this festival?"

Arthur opened his mouth to say something, but it was then that Keeper Yao came over, wearing white as predicted. "It's time for the festival to begin; Come with me."

The festival was rather interesting, showcasing cultures from around the human world as well as the culture of the fourteen peoples of Fae. Keeper Yao was only too happy to be playing tour guide as he explained why you don't eat Faery foods (something about making you lose your mind), why you are never to listen to the merfolk sing (deadly voices are deadly), and why Seers are always born as twins ('seeing' opposites so they release the burden off of their sibling). That last one actually took some explaining since no one knew what a Seer was. Apparently they are humanoids that have special eyes that allow them to see into the void. They each can see different things and, because of this, some are stronger than others. One set might see where objects have been and then where they will be and then another might see the way things are versus the way they aren't. Depending on the situation, one might be more helpful than the other.

After gorging themselves on non-Faery food (a glance to that stall proved it, since no one would go near there), the group would led up to a balcony where they sat. Curious stares followed them from the people in the crowds.

Vash glared down at the people on the ground, not being especially hateful or anything, just not particularly pleased that all those people had their attention on the group. Despite originally joining the PRBC to watch over his sister and only his sister, he had grown the care about the other members too, even Gilbert, and had even worked to place alternate forms of protection around their houses. He fixed their security systems, placed landmines everywhere, asked people to watch out for them… the works. Still, he couldn't protect them here, not with all of those people staring and them being offered up as prizes for some competition like sacrifices to gods. Not when they couldn't even go home.

Keeper Yao stepped forward to the center of the front of the balcony. _The royals did quite a good job on this balcony. They even positioned everything so I would be in the middle of the group._ This time he brought the text with him instead of getting one of his sons to bring it up. "Today is the eve of the Festival of Fertility! Today, we bring forth those chosen to represent our unity and hopefully everlasting peace with the human race. Eight humans, the number showing each of the populated continents and both poles, will be bonded with some of our royal children in the most intimate of ways. The royals who win these humans through our fourteen challenges will be raised to the crown once their parents pass to show the fairness of rule." Here, the Keeper paused and the aforementioned eight humans began feeling a bit panicky and nervous. Being the key to power of a crown was not usually the way someone wanted to be picked to wed. '_Who knows what kind of person we'll end up with?'_ seemed to run through all their thoughts.

"Tonight, we will do as we have done every festival and ring forth the eligible princes and princesses to add their blood the ceremonial metal. Eight rings will be made from this, one given to each of the humans to further show our bond with mankind.

"First, of the Angel Queendom, I present Crown Prince Hercules Karpusi." **(Greece)**

A brunette with brown eyes came forward, his lightly tanned skin complimenting the cream colored toga and beautiful wings (of the same color). "Hello," he said, his voice soft and light. He walked past them and to a small forge no one had bothered to look at previously. There was a strange silver liquid flowing in there. One prick of a finger and the blood dribbled down into the liquid metal, mixing with it but taking on its coloring.

"Of the Changeling Kingdom, I present Crown Prince Feliks Łukasiewicz." **(Poland)**

Gilbert gasped as the strange blonde that had fixed him up earlier did the same as the previous princeling. The blonde, still in his gold robe, walked right past them without a greeting and followed the other royal off the stage. _He looks fairly normal._

"Of the Demon Queendom, I present Crown Prince Sadiq Adnan." **(Turkey)**

"…Prince Gupta Muhammad Hassan." **(Egypt)**

The two brothers walked up wearing facial coverings, the CP a mask and his princeling a simple cloth. They had small horns coming from the tops of their heads and two whip-like tails trailing behind them as they walked. The two wore black robes that swished when they walked. Alfred decided that that would be as good as a time as ever to hum the Darth Vader theme.

"Of the Dragon Clan, I present Crown Princess Elizaveta Héderváry." **(Hungary)**

A beautiful brunette with forest green eyes and robes to match approached the group, smiling broadly with sharp pointy teeth. She looked fairly normal… until she walked past and they saw skin tone scales running down the sides of her neck from behind her ear and her wings were revealed, tucked behind her back.

"Of the Seelie Court, Crown Prince Toris Laurinaitis." **(Lithuania)**

"… Prince Eduard von Bock." **(Estonia)**

"… Prince Ravis Galante." **(Latvia)**

The three light pink clad (yes light pink) shivering princes were nothing that Arthur expected Faeries to be. They looked nervous, especially the youngest who looked like he was going to pass out when the Keeper pricked his finger. They did have near translucent wings however, ones that reminded him of rainbows, and were covered in flowers. It was spring after all.

"Of the Unseelie Court, I present Crown Prince Ivan Braginski." **(Russia)**

"… Princess Natalia Arlovskaya." **(Belarus)**

These two were definitely more like it. They radiated the cold, unforgiving aura of frost. They had deep indigo robes and their wings had icicles and were covered in frost. The boy kept up this creepy smile and didn't even jump when his finger was pricked. He even looked a bit menacing as his gaze ran over each and every one of them, lingering on Gilbert, Katyusha, and Alfred. The girl looked like she wanted to tackle her brother and never let go, always getting right next to the boundary that was set. Arthur could have sworn he heard her mumbling about not wanting to be in the competition and throwing it so she could have her brother. _What a disturbed young lady._

"Of the Poltergeist Family, I present Crown Prince Matthias Køhler." **(Denmark)**

"… Prince Lukas Bondevik."** (Norway)**

"…Prince Emil Steilsson." **(Iceland)**

This trio in lavender surprised Michelle. _Aren't ghosts supposed to be all see through? He did say poltergeist right?_ The looked like regular human beings. The first one to come up was smiling broadly and laughing just as boisterously. He walked right up to the forge and thrust out his hand. The knife didn't work at first, just going through the phantom's hand. Eventually Keeper Yao had to pull out a special one to work. Meanwhile, Alfred looked ready to pee himself. The second one just looked at everyone and kept walking as if they weren't there, a bored look on his face. The final one came up and got it over with, not really bothering to stay long.

"Of the Merfolk, I present Crown Prince Antonio Fernandez Carriedo." **(Spain)**

A tan young man in aqua made his way up to the stage, bright green eyes shining with mirth, almost as if he knew a secret. A small patch of gills ran down his neck and his skin looked slick and shiny with some sort of fluid. These were the only clues that the group had that he was a mermaid. _Merman…_ Keeper Yao corrected them mentally.

"Of the Nature Spirits, I present King Francis Bonnefoy." **(France)**

"… Crown Prince Matthew Williams." **(Canada)**

The first thing that caught the groups' attention was the use of king. Until then, they had all been princes and princesses. The confusion was evident on their faces. Said King winked at a few of them as he passed by, unfazed by the stares. He even flaunted his long hair, soul patch, and brown robes. They were staring so much at the king that they failed to notice his lookalike who was too busy staring at Alfred.

"Of the Seers, I present Crown Princes Lovino and Feliciano Vargas." **(S. Italy and N. Italy)**

The two walked up together with linked arms and did everything at the same time. It was clear which one was the 'older' one by the way Lovino led his brother around. The two brunettes had amber-ish eyes and wore their blood red robes with pride. Well, Lovino did. Feliciano was too busy blowing kisses to the pretty girls in the crowd.

"Of the Keepers, I present Crown Prince Kiku Honda." **(Japan)**

"…Prince Im Yong Soo." **(S. Korea)**

"… Prince Kasem Chao." **(Thailand)**

… Princess Mei Xiao." **(Taiwan)**

"… Princess Lien Chung." **(Vietnam)**

"…Prince Kaoru Wang." **(Hong Kong)**

The teens who had served them originally came up with their white robes on and proceeded to complete their own pricking. Having already taken them earlier, the group didn't pay much attention to detail except… it seemed so real. Mei was a princess who had been assigned to bring them there. Some felt excited (Michelle), but most felt a bit betrayed, despite understanding the situation.

"Of the Vampire Clan, I present Crown Prince Alin Impal." **(Romania)**

The vampire boy came up and was, well, everything you expected of a classic vampire: unnatural beauty, red eyes, and prominent fangs. They were kinda hard to miss. His red orange robes billowed as he walked (yes, billowed). He just grinned at the girls, making them swoon, and winked at a few of the boys. Otherwise he seemed, generally uninterested.

"Of the Werewolf Clan, I present Crown Prince Lars Jagar*." **(Netherlands)**

"… Princess Bella Jagar." **(Belgium)**

The blonde, green-eyed brother and sister walked up in there in their dark navy blue, almost black, robes. The brother had this stern look on his face that froze a few in their seats, while the sister bounced her way up happily and made a point to greet every single human with a handshake. An unfortunate few ended up nearly losing an arm (mostly Gilbert who claimed she actually was trying to take his arm off).

"And finally, Off the Magicka Tribe, I present Crown Prince Roderich Edelstein." **(Austria)**

A brunette with purples eyes walked on stage seeming very unamused by the whole set up and was glaring at everything in eye sight. Gilbert and Vash were the only ones who held his glare, while Lili just smiled at him. His dark purple robes clung to his form and Alfred swore he even saw a sewn in patch at the bottom near "Roddy's" heel. The prince held out thin fingers to Yao and even winced when he was stabbed in the forefinger. Then, he too retreated to his mother.

Keeper Yao smiled happily, glad that the whole thing seemed to have gone off without a hitch. This… almost never happened, especially when all fourteen peoples of Fae were involved. "Now all of the royal bra-, I mean children, have sworn to participate in this competition (a wail came from the crowd). May the festivities begin!"

**Jagar is Dutch for Hunter.**

**I know I'm late, but my parents kept me at the stand longer than expected because of a storm last night and I didn't have internet access. In fact, I probably won't have internet access until maybe Friday or Saturday next week. You'll have to wait on that third chapter to be delivered with the required chapter for that week.**


	5. The Eve of the Festival of Fertility

**So this chapter is really… short. My mom let us go home quickly and I've been trying to rush through finishing this. I'll check all review for the next one! I promise. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! **

**Disclaimer: I no own, you no sue.**

The Eve of the Festivities

•_"I think we ought to do all we can to make these creatures friendly. It might turn out to be well worth the trouble."_

_- Richard Adams, Watership Down_

Fireworks shot through the sky as the people rejoiced in the streets. The small group of humans had been assigned to a small deck-like area for the time being until the royals' festival officially started. Alfred looked longingly down at the stalls of food and asked for one of the servants that had been assigned to serve them to go and get him some. The servant wore a long one piece gray robe that touched the floor and almost seemed like a plain dress that had a cowl that covered his face completely. He had tried peering under the servant's hood to see what his face looked like, only to discover absolutely nothing. After screeching about phantom servers for five minutes to Arthur, Alfred discovered all of them had been assigned similar servants and that they were shades, not ghosts. Apparently they were vengeful souls that had been brought back to do whatever their masters told them too, Yao being their masters. Alfred was still stuck on the "vengeful souls" part.

_-Flashback-_

"Artie! That's pretty much what a ghost is!"

"Shut up Alfred! Shades have to do whatever their masters bid, and Keeper Yao explained that he told them to obey our every order. We have nothing to worry about."

"If we give a really vague order can't they interpret it in their own way?"

"I suppose so…"

"THEY'RE GOING TO TRY AND KILL ME! SAVE MEEEEH!"

_-End * Flashback-_

Alfred looked warily at some of the treats that his shade servant brought back. _I didn't tell him to not poison it! OHMYGOD! What if Bob _(that's what he named the shade) _poisoned it?_

"Are you still freaking out about the shade?"

Alfred looked up to see Ludwig standing there, munching on a half a grilled tomato with basil pesto and feta cheese. "Those are really good," Alfred commented, having had one earlier.

"Yeah, I know. Are you going to answer my question?"

"No."

Ludwig sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. The two sat in silence as he finished his snack and Alfred took a few tentative bites from a sugary, doughy baked good and found it to be delicious. No longer worrying excessively about being poisoned, Alfred dove right in to his treat, sparing a glance or two to the shade while simultaneously trying to avoid its invisible gaze. Ludwig watched on with some amusement.

It was then that Vash came over. The gun slinging Swiss raised an eyebrow at his (sort of) friend's antics, before informing the two that Keeper Yao had called for the group. They got up and met with the rest of the group, who had already been informed, on the main patio. Keeper Yao was looking at the group sternly, but his gaze reminded the others of an old man who just wanted to go read a good book. "Now it is time for you all to meet the royals. The ones you saw earlier are the ones competing for your hands in marriage. If more than one came up from the same kingdom, know that if they win one of your hands then they get the throne. Just be aware of that. While it is not a competition to the death, there is a strong possibility that some will die, and almost a guarantee that same one will get injured badly. Feel free to mingle, you might even find someone you like. Just hope that they end up winning your hand." He ushered them into the back of a large tent and scattered them like seeds. Attention was drawn to them immediately and then promptly returned to their original owners. The room was filled with a flowing rainbow of robes; it was disorienting.

White ignored them the most, probably due to the fact that they would get to see them more than anybody else, so (apparently) they didn't really matter. It took a few minutes, but eventually one of the dark indigos came over. It was the girl, Princess Natalia, who took to staring at them. "I don't want any of you," she scoffed. "If I had known that you could opt out of the competition before you joined your blood with the others, I would have." _So that was who that screaming belonged to!_ The icy faery princess scowled. "Hopefully, I will fail one of the challenges and be welcomed back to my ig brother." Lili grinned at the girl. "You love your big brother too?" she squealed.

Vash looked worried, "Lili… I don't think-"

"Yes! And no one will love big brother more than me!"

Lili then chose to startle the girl with a hug. "Let's be friends!"

The other seven humans shifted uncomfortably as their youngest member proposed a friendship with the scary Unseelie faery. The almost angry look on the Princess's face certainly didn't stifle their unease at all. A long, awkward ensued in which they stared at the Ice Princess's face until it finally softened into a look of confusion. The arms which had been previously held rigid by Princess Natalia's side slowly approached Lili's back. The glint of a knife in Natalia's sleeve created panic among the others. They rested before Natalia patted Lili on the back. "I find a friendship permissible, but not appealing. The only one I need is my big brother." Then she left.

"She was nice!" Lili exclaimed. "Let's go meet some new people!"

Despite Lili's initial enthusiasm, no one (Lili included) bothered to introduce themselves. Being in a room full of creatures that used to make things go bump in the night isn't exactly the most… inviting environment. They wandered around for a bit before splitting ways. Alfred immediately went over to the (you guessed) buffet table. He said something about starving because of evil shades and their evil schemes with their evil food. Arthur studied the crowd with fascination from Alfred's side, mentally taking notes of all of their appearances. Most of them looked fairly humanoid. "That's because you aren't seeing them in their natural environments."

"WHAAAA-?" yelled a startled Arthur who hadn't seen the vampire get close. At this point, Alfred was in shock and on the verge of passing out. _'I can't help but feel a bit sympathetic… The supernatural has always terrified him,'_ thought Arthur as he glared at the vampire prince. "I apologize. I did not mean to put your friend in a near catatonic state," the vampire prince, Alin, said. He seemed fairly mischievous. "Did you read my thoughts?"

Alin snorted, "No, you said them out loud."

"Well then…"

Lili ended up roaming around the tent (while being followed by big brother) until she ran into Mei. "Hi Mei…"

"Hey Lil! Look, I'm sorry for bringing you guys here without asking, but it was job. I hope I didn't hurt you in any way."

Lili just smiled. "I'm fine. Don't worry! I understand why you did what you did. I think we all do! It's just a bit difficult to forgive something like that… I'm sure it will happen eventually though."

Vash watched as his younger sister reconciled with Mei. _What did she mean by that earlier? Was she meaning the same way as the Princess or did she mistake the Princess's love for the way she felt? I hope it's the latter._ He turned around and ran into someone. "I hope you would watch where you are going!" an irritated voice yelled, getting looks from bystanders. Violet eyes met green and it was… annoyance at first sight. "Why don't you follow your own advice?" The brunette princeling looked off to the side. "I lost my glasses."

Vash deadpanned. "You're hopeless."

Meanwhile, Ludwig and Gilbert had stayed together in the hopes of not getting lost. Unfortunately they were confronted by the Seer Princes. Well… one of the Seer Princes. The other was too busy fawning over Ludwig's muscles.

"Feliciano! Leave that damn potato bastard alone! We don't need to deal with these stupid Germans!"

"Hey! THE AWESOME ME IS NOT STUPID! I am the total embodiment of awesome! You should be bowing to me, not the other way around!"

"Wow Lovi! Look at this guy's muscles! They're so big!"

"Don't touch him Feli!"

"Let go of my little brother! I'm the only one who can touch him there!"

"But it's just his side!"

"Only I can poke it!"

Poor Ludwig.

Michelle and Katyusha were busy getting punch until a hand fell on Katyusha's shoulder. "I can speak with you alone, da?"

She turned to find the Crown Prince of the Unseelie staring at her, curiosity shining in his violet eyes. "Um... okay." Michelle mouthed 'go' and wandered over to the werewolf Princess, immediately bonding (friendship wise) over their love of boy bands. "What do you wish to talk about?"

He tilted his head. "I think I can see it."

Katyusha looked confused. "See what?"

"I see my father's former wife, Yekertina. She was a human and she died giving birth to a child." Then the Prince walked off.

_How very strange…_

**Thank you guys for tolerating my crappiness! I hope you enjoy the net chapter more than this one.**


	6. The Festivities Part 2

**Here is the chapter I owe for this week! Sorry about not getting it in on Thursday… but hey! I got it in. Thursday was Independence Day (In case you haven't guessed, I'm American), which means that, because I am working at a fireworks stand with no internet, posting this chapter on that day is practically impossible. We also don't go home until late on the day after and then I'm going to be going to oral surgery to get my wisdom teeth removed. After that I'm going to my grandparents' house for a week and a half. Luckily, they have internet! In fact, the only issue for Thursday I predict after this week is during the second week of Band Camp, because it goes from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm. I'll still try my best to post that week. Anyway… Here's chapter 5!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Hetaila, I wouldn't bother with high school. I would just read text books (and regular books) and any classes taken would be for fun. Not that I don't already do that, but still!**

The Festivities Part II

_What a strange boy…_

Katyusha shrugged and walked back into the party, almost bumping into several people. Of course with her ehmm… large chest, avoiding people was difficult. It wasn't until someone grabbed said chest that people got out of her way, mostly because she was screaming really loudly. For a moment, the entire place was quiet as one of the Seelie Faery Princes, the Crown Prince no less, slowly moved his hand away. The poor boy's shaking became worse as all eyes looked accusingly on him. A swift glance around showed Katyusha that most of the cause of the boy's discomfort was Crown Prince of the Unseelie, Ivan. His glared at the other Crown Prince with a wide grin on his face, his mysterious chanting still audible from across the room. Once the hand was gone completely and back at the Prince's side, everyone returned to their own business.

"I'm so so sorry!" the Prince wailed, the crowd was too busy enjoying the food and music to care.

"No, it's all right! I should be sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"No, I'm sorry!"

"I'm the sorry one."

The stood there for a second, staring at one another sheepishly, neither willing to give up their position. "Maybe we should agree to disagree and simply accept the other's apologies," the brunette stated.

"That seems acceptable," Katyusha agreed.

"Sooo…."

Ludwig was busy steadily ignoring the strange Italian twin plus his brother that had decided to pester him. Well, Gilbert and the elder twin… Lovino (?) had, the younger one, Feliciano, was just complimenting his muscles so much and touching said 'muscles' as much as possible. It had become a strange combination of irritating, embarrassing, and a strange warm fluttery feeling in his stomach that he dared not define. Said Italian causing the strange emotions had pulled him away from the arguing Gilbert and Lovino, out onto the deck/terrace outside of the tent.

"Ooooh! Look at that! Look at that!"

Small little glowing bugs, not the fireflies/lightning bugs from home, floated across the ceiling of the large cave they were in. It was just then that Ludwig realized…

"Are we underground?"

Prince Feliciano smiled, "Yes! We have to stay underground to protect ourselves from the humans and to protect the humans from us. This way we coexist peacefully, even if we never see each other."

"Hmm…"

The silence between the two was relaxed for the moment as the watched the Fae's makeshift stars float across the sky. A strange feeling overcoming them both, something neither would ever admit.

Back between the two arguing brothers (they were not brothers to each other though), Gilbert and Lovino were arguing amongst themselves on the worth of the tomato versus the worth of the potato. The two were on the edge of blows when someone came over and forcibly removed them from each other. For a moment, Prince Lovino glared at the person holding the scruff of his neck, but upon seeing the person separating them, the Seer Prince paled considerably. Gilbert looked back to see the Dragon Princess, Elizaveta smirking at the two. "Now what do we have here?"

"I don't care you jerk! I'm here arguing with this potato bastard! He's such an idiot and he was yelling at my brother!"

"You were yelling at my brother and insulting the both of us first!"

"Lovi, why are you two yelling?"

The Seer Prince's glare returned and he turned to the Merfolk Crown Prince, Antonio. "Not again, you bastard!" He yelled and the two Princes began their staring contest. Elizaveta raised an eyebrow at the two. Gilbert looked a bit confused. "Is he always like this?"

"Yes, yes he is."

Arthur glanced at Michelle as he continued drinking some punch. The Vampire Prince had just left, claiming he needed a quick bite before he could continue a conversation with a human and the large-eyebrowed teen had no clue where Alfred had wondered off to. Feeling a bit like an idiot just standing there by himself, Arthur shifted from foot still not willing to move. "Hello," a voice called out, and Arthur whirled around to face Kiku. "Arthur-san, there is no need to be so tense."

"Ah… yes. Sorry about that."

The Princeling nodded to the human. "You haven't seen Alfred-san, by any chance?"

"Um… no. He must've snuck off when the Prince of the bloody Vampires came over here."

Kiku nodded his head like he understood the human teen's predicament. "I assume you two are in a romantic relationship, yes? I'm sorry that you can't be together, but maybe you will find one who is tolerant on such things."

"What?!" yelled Arthur, confused and a little freaked out at the Prince's statement.

"You are attached, yes?"

"No! GOD NO! We're best friends, more like brothers!"

Kiku shrugged and the two descended into awkward silence.

Michelle smiled at the various boys who had begun to surround her. The various Princes who had come up to talk to her were all sweet and two of the Seelie Princes, the Changeling Prince, the Ghost Princes, and the Nature King were all surrounding her, bestowing her with flowers, clothes, anything they could get their hands on. The poor girl wasn't quite sure what to do with herself.

Each of the boys were holding out flowers and smiling, trying to win her favor. Slowly the poor girl was getting overwhelmed by the amount of attention she was receiving. It was then that Mei came and rescued her.

"Alright boys! Let's leave the damsel alone to get some food. Have you eaten yet?"

"No, I haven't been able to."

"See boys, can't let a girl starve."

Then all the boys ran off to get her various snacks. Mei slid a pack of chips from her large sleeves and handed it to her. "Here, Michelle. Now let's get out of here before they come back. I'll take you to your room so you can rest."

Michelle look confused, "But what about the party?"

Mei rolled her eyes. "All the adults have already left and a few of the royalings. Nobody really pays attention at this party unless you don't have a human suitor in mind. You're a human and plenty of boys are already looking at you. You should be fine."

A voice came from behind them. "I'll walk her to her room if you don't mind. Would you get me the number?"

Michelle whirled around to see Lien, Mei's sister. Mei brightened considerably, "I'll come with you both. If we collect enough snacks then we can have a slumber party! Maybe we can get Lili and Katyusha and a few of the other girls to come as well."

The three girls ran around the room and began collecting their fellow females (even Unseelie Princess Natalia joined), each collecting snacks and drinks to enjoy themselves.

Lili smiled broadly at her new friend, Princess Natalia, as they walked down the hallways to Michelle's room. In her hands, she clutched a large bag or pretzels and a liter of some carbonated beverage that looked a bit like coke, but she wasn't sure. The girls all finally managed to get to the room and immediately grabbed some pillows and blankets and threw them around the room to create a comfortable setting. Elizaveta tried showing off her yaoi collection. Michelle tried to explain to the other girls that Katyusha and Lili didn't know what that was.

That was when Lili learned the wonders of yaoi. Mei, Lien, Elizaveta, Michelle, and Bella were all smiling and semi ignoring it, having actually seen that one before. Katyusha was blushing and trying not to pay attention, while joining the rest of the girls in a game of truth or dare. Lili and Natalia were busy staring at the screen. Natalia began talking to Lili about possibly getting her brother in a situation like that. Lili wasn't sure how to take that.

The girls all decided to eventually camp out on the floor, happy to stay the night. Of course, they forgot to tell their parents and it was up to Keeper Yao to inform all of the kings and queens what happened to their children.

_Why can't these brats just behave?_

Vash was busy helping the idiot brunette find his glasses and happened to be lucky enough to watch the girls leave the room. Gradually, people had been leaving, so he figured it didn't matter too much. A few of the other humans were being rushed off by Yao to their rooms. _Great… A curfew, even when we're in another world._

Finally, a crunch resounded throughout the room and Vash looked up to see the idiot STEP ON HIS OWN GLASSES. The Prince Roderich bent down to pick up his crushed glasses. _Mr. Face, meet Mr. Palm._

"You really are helpless aren't you?"

"I can take care of myself perfectly well thank you."

The two of them argued like this for a minute or so before Vash decided to walk off. The gunslinger kept looking around feeling kind of lonely. He glanced around the room and as he walked, he almost ran into another person… again. A tall blonde with green eyes looked at him. _Oh, it's the werewolf Crown Prince._

He held out his hand and the other shook it. Silence continued for about a minute as the two protective older brothers sized each other up. There were no words that needed to be exchanged and, for the moment, an understanding came over them. Then they walked their separate ways, heading to their rooms for the night so they could be rested for tomorrow.

Alfred looked over the top of the buffet table and snagged another pack of food as he once again hid under the table. It was really surprising how… freaked out the people made him. The Fae each in their own way were obviously not human and, growing up afraid of the creatures that went bump in the night, it was just as fascinating as it was nerve-wracking. The whole encounter with the Vampire Prince didn't help either. _I think that guy was out trying to freak me out._

"What are you doing under the table?"

The sudden voice made the teen jump and the table shook as he hit his head against it. He looked up into deep purple eyes and a childishly cruel/amused smile. _Unseelie Crown Prince Ivan…_

Said prince grabbed his arm and yanked him out from under his hiding place. "What are you doing?"

"Everyone is leaving now… Might as well."

It was then that Alfred realized that he couldn't remember where his room was. "Ummm… I don't remember where it is."

The Prince smiled and asked him to hand him the little paper that contained his room number. The next thing poor Alfred knew, he was being dragged out of the tent and down into the Keeper's palace. He was being dragged through each hallway. _My arm is kinda sore._

Finally, he was shoved into a room and Alfred watched as he ran off to some other part of the palace. "I really hope that doesn't happen again."

**So, yeah, this was just another filler chapter. The chapter that I'm going to post on Thursday is going to be the first challenge. The first challenge is going to eliminate three from the competition. Remember that the people who lose can still be romantically involved with other characters, including human characters. So, if you want a character to be in the last three places/ eliminated from the competition, just put their name in your review. Sorry about the crappy writing, I just had my wisdom teeth removed and the pain medication isn't exactly working. So I'm sleepy and in pain. Yay.**


	7. Cloud Hopping Isn't a Challenge

**Author's Note:**

**So here I am, on the final day of recuperation from wisdom tooth surgery, doped up on pain medication, hungry because I just woke up, and slightly worried because some of the stitching fell out, and I decide to write the next chapter for you. Basically, this is the first challenge. It took all of my willpower to convince myself that I could make cloud-hopping into a not so bad challenge… I can only hope that it worked. This will probably be a really long chapter. A really long chapter. I'm sorry. I also apologize for my butchered version of the legends of King Arthur. It will come into play later.**

**I'd like to thank chukaliteluvver and izzy1229anime for reviewing chapter 4. I'll work hard to keep up and better any writing I do!**

**Froggiecool: Ch. 3: There will and there won't be. I have an entire list of pairings I made up with weird twists and multiples for one person and stuff. I also have different romantic stories for different characters. **

**Ch. 4: Thank you. I take that as a gracious compliment. **

**Ch. 5: Thank you again! :D/:( Sadly, there will be some death in here and there is one person that is definitely not going to be won by their love (I will not name names). That person is the only one I've completely planned out their romance as well, so there are other possibilities. I'm trying to make sure this one has a happy ending, but most of my stories do not. This is the first fanfic that I am extremely dedicated to, so it might be different.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Hetalia, I would have enough magic to make the need for wisdom tooth surgery disappear. I do not (regrettably).**

Cloud Hopping Isn't a Challenge

_"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive-it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?"  
- _Lucy Maud Montgomery_, __Anne of Green Gables_

Lili blinked her eyes slowly opened and let in the faux light that streamed across her room. _I could have sworn we were staying the night in Michelle's room with the other girls._ Throwing the blankets off of her, the girl ran out the room, only to be met by her Shade attendant who was busy putting out breakfast. Shocked as she was to find the Shade in there, the food, which smelled delicious, began to control the foremost of her thoughts. Snacking for dinner can only curb so much hunger after all.

She practically dove into the sweet rolls with honey glaze, the crispy still-sizzling bacon, fruits from all over the above world, and the egg whites. With her mouth watering and appetite growing, Lili filled her plate to the brim and enjoyed her meal to the fullest. It may not have been the best, having been cooked by a shade, but hunger will make anyone's food the most delicious thing in the world. Well, except for Arthur of course. The first time he was required to provide snacks for the club to chow down on, he nearly destroyed the kitchen in Home Ec. After that, it was declared that anytime it was Arthur's turn, either someone else provided snacks voluntarily or he store bought them. No one but Arthur complained.

Every now and then the feeding girl glanced over at her Shade, who was busy cleaning up the cookware and making the little suite presentable. After the meal, Lili followed the Shade into a small adjacent room that held a little stone bath. It was small and nowhere near as high quality as the bathing room that she had seen yesterday, but it was comfortable and she didn't have to leave her new home for it. In reality, little Lili probably spent more time just sitting in the steaming water than actually bathing, but the relaxing pool did its job well.

When she finally stepped out, she was met with the Shade again. Blushing profusely because she was only clad in a small gray towel, she took the clothes the Shade held and tried to get dressed. It was a simple pair of silky pants that shimmered as she walked and a long-sleeved tunic of the same material. Other than a belt that held all fourteen of the colors she had seen the royalings wear last night, the ensemble was a near-bland gray. The Shade helped her into her outfit, brought out soft slippers for her to wear, and fixed her hair with a small gray bow. As bland as the outfit's coloring scheme was, it reminded Lili of a blank canvas, waiting to be showered with different colors to fill the empty space. _I suppose that's what they meant it to be… They had all of those royals wear different colors, maybe colors signify something here.I_

Pushing such thoughts from her mind, Lili stepped away from the marble vanity and left her suite to join the others. Who knows what trouble they would get into today?

Michelle straightened out her ponytails as she was escorted down the winding hallways by her shade. _Frankly, I don't get why we couldn't bath and eat together like yesterday; maybe it has something to do with that weird ceremony they held. And where were all the girls this morning? I could have sworn that we all fell asleep in my room last night!_

Tired and a little confused, the human girl finally made it into a large study/living room area that contained all of the others. Everyone was dressed in a similar fashion: pants, belt, tunic, and all. Everyone seemed to be doing their own thing, despite the fact that they were underground surrounded by creatures out of fairy tales that wanted to marry them off to their children to promote unity. _I'm still a little excited about that! I mean, who ever really gets the chance to live out their own fairy tale?_

Arthur was busy reading a huge book called _The History of the Peoples of Fae_, Alfred was playing video games (_How on earth does this place have electricity?_), Lili was talking to Vash about her morning, Vash was eyeing the Shades suspiciously, Gilbert was bugging Ludwig, Ludwig was ignoring Gilbert, and Katyusha was watching Alfred blow up zombies as if she could learn herself. All in all, they acted as if nothing had happened. A bit worried, Michelle walked over and tried to engage Arthur in a conversation.

"Arthur?"

"Mmhmm?"

"Um… Have you figured out what's going on yet?"

"Wha-?" the confused bushy-browed blonde looked up at her. "I wasn't paying attention. Sorry?"

"Well, you were reading that book and I figured that you were trying to figure out what's going on and why this is happening to us. It's okay if you're not; I just thought you might be."

Arthur blinked a couple of times. "Oh! Well, I wasn't trying to figure out anything, but I did anyway. Did you know that the Shades are supposed to be reflected forms of ourselves? Something about vengeful spirits and time warps that I didn't quite catch. It involved crystals I believe? Anyway…"

"That's not what I was asking."

"Oh."

There was an uncomfortable pause before Arthur bothered to approach the subject again. "Well, then what were you asking?"

"I was just wondering if you understood the big deal about this ceremony and stuff. It just seems a little odd, don't you think?"

Arthur closed the book. "Personally, I think this is a subject we should share with everyone. I don't really want to repeat this again."

"Whatcha talkin' 'bout Artie? You love to hear yourself speak dontcha?"

Arthur glared, full of righteous indignation (or so he thought) at Alfred who just bothered to glance over his friend's shoulder at the book he was reading. Slowly, the entire group of humans gathered around to see what the commotion was about, the unsaid commotion being: Arthur trying strangle Alfred again. Only when Katyusha finally managed to pull Arthur off Alfred did everything return to normal (more or less).

"Are you gonna explain what's going on or what?" Alfred demanded, earning a glare and almost a kick from Arthur.

"Well, we are being held by otherworldly beings-"

"Nah dip, Sherlock!" yelled the albino.

"Shut up Gilbert," returned Ludwig, smacking his brother in the head.

"Now…" Arthur said crossly. "As I was saying, _there was a time when there were more of these creatures…"_

"Great," Vash complained. "He's using his 'story-telling' voice"

"_Back before the medieval times there were also elves, dwarves, giants, imps, griffons, goblins and trolls. They all freely roamed the land of Albion, causing trouble among the kings without fail. Sometimes they even did it at the bidding of the humans, which was forbidden. Humans began to fear these creatures and hunted them down until they were extinct. Watching as their brethren were killed, the remaining tribes worried that they would be next._

"_The twin queens of the Seers at the time, Morgause, who could see the deaths of great humans, and Morgan, who could see their births, foretold the birth of a great king named Arthur who would bring peace to both worlds. Morgan approached him and seduced him, believing that bearing his child would show the worlds' unity. When the child was born, the boy was born without a twin, a forbidding sign to the Seer people. His was named Mordred._

"_What Morgause did not tell her sister was that her son was destined to kill her lover. Instead she went to the King of the Magicka Tribe, the husband of Hecate, Merlin. The two began to try and figure out a way to prevent Arthur from being killed, because it would only cause outrage among both peoples. Secretly, they met with a princess from the last kingdom of Elves, who was named Gwendolyn. The three tried to arrange a marriage for Arthur, but Gwendolyn fell for the King of the Nature Spirits, Lancelot. _

"_Arthur was angered when they finally told him about Mordred. The Keepers, who at the time were known as the Druids, had been raising the boy in secret, hoping to divert the prophecy. Around the same time, Morgause was discovered to have been pregnant as well. No one knew who the father might be. Arthur attacked the Druids to get to the boy and Mordred flew into a murderous rage, destroying everything in his path. On the battlefield, Morgause gave birth to the twins, Romulus, who could see people's hearts, and Remus, who could see people's minds. Merlin fled with them as Morgause was dying, her blessing on the wind._

"_With Arthur dead, the land was in chaos. People were trying to find the missing Seer princes and trying to rebuild both lands. King Merlin had been caring for the boys under the earth, bringing them up to live with the humans of the above village. None in the village were worried and they all lived in peace. People began to wonder how the village was so prosperous when they were being disrupted by fighting the peoples of Fae. Merlin emerged and showed the boys to the world. The boys worked to make peace with the humans and calm the Fae. In their work to rebuild the Fae however, Remus began to see the atrocities humanity was committing and wished to betray and control them. Romulus, with a heavy heart, had to kill his brother or the worst could happen. The land of Fae was built on the bones of Remus and ever since Romulus has tried to take a backseat among Fae law while trying to keep peace._

"_The day that Remus died marks the beginning of the Festival of Death, where eight Fae are sent into the world of the humans to fall in love and live like humans. The day the twins were born marks the Festival of Fertility, where eight humans are sent into the world of the Fae to have their hands won by royalty and live like the Fae."_

"Well, that couldn't have been any longer."

Michelle shrugged, "At least now we know."

Around midday, Keeper Yao approached them once more. "Children! Are you ready to view the first challenge?"

"Wait! Already?"

"Don't we get, like, a day's rest?"

"Can't we have some more time to meet with those who we're gonna marry?"

The Keeper rolled his eyes. "Your rest was yesterday and the challenges start today. We have to make sure that everything goes according to tradition, and tradition dictates that today is the first day of the challenges. Some challenges will last longer than others, and the more heart-specific ones will come further down the list."

He was met with seven looks of confusion and one look of annoyance. His eyes met with that of the bushy-browed one, Arthur, and a quick scan of the room proved to Yao that his theory was right: they were investigating the reason that they were there and the history of the competition. _I wonder what they've figured out_.

He motioned for them to follow him out of the room. The eight humans were flanked by several menacing-looking shades. Much to other Keepers' amusement, the little group greatly resembled a small flock of sheep being led by a shepherd, his dogs nipping at their heels to keep them from wandering off. After a few minutes of walking the now-familiar corridors, they were met by a steam punk era elevator. It seemed such an odd thing to be embedded in the medieval styled hallways. Its mechanics clashed with the torches and the stone walls. The group was ushered inside and with the pressing of the buttons, it ascended.

Up it went, into the world outside the Keeper grounds, giving them another look into the underground world of the Fae. The fireflies that had dotted the "sky" the night before had retreated into slumber and were replaced by strange floating orbs that would bounce off the underground ceiling. The entire city was divided into fourteen different sections, each portraying some of the different styles of architecture through the centuries. There were the Renaissance Cathedrals, the English Gothic castles, the great Palaces of Egypt, Ancient Roman and Greek courtyards, Modern High Rises, Nordic Great Halls, even Igloos made of glass, and beautiful houses carved into trees. It was a strange thing to see, especially because the night before everything had seemed coppery and dark, like the landscape was reflecting the underground walls. Now, the entire world was bright with color, light, and life; the different worlds were intermingling in a strange combination. The humans were so entranced; they didn't realize that they were approaching the ceiling of their new world.

"Hey guys… Are we gonna crash?" They turned to Alfred, who was focusing on the rock above.

"Um… Keeper Yao!"

Then, the entire group rocketed into the air. The sudden push into the air threw several off their feet and into the air, only to be knocked back against the floor. Michelle, Lili, Arthur, and Ludwig were lucky enough to grab onto the railing on the sides of the elevator and use it to hold on for dear life. Alfred, Katyusha, Vash, and Gilbert however, were being thrown back and forth around the little thing, much to Katyusha's discomfort. The Shades had managed to disappear while they were busy staring at the underground world of Fae and, somehow, Yao had yet to be moved from his standing position. The smug bastard was grinning at the poor humans. Finally, it stopped.

The poor humans attempted to stand on their own two feet again, some grasping the concept better than others. Poor Katyusha had to use Lili and Michelle's arms as supports as she simultaneously tried to stand and not throw up, a more difficult task than one realizes. The doors opened to reveal bright unnatural light and a steel walkway leading from the door of the elevator. Keeper Yao stepped out first, holding out his arm in a very "Behold!" fashion. One-by-one, they made their way off the lift and onto the walkway. Once outside, they realized just exactly where they had ended up.

"OMYGOD! WE'RE IN HEAVEN!" yelled Michelle.

"No, yo- "

"Where are the holy angel choirs?" asked Alfred.

"Elevators are deadly!" moaned Gilbert.

"I didn't think the ride was bad enough to kill us!" mumbled Lili.

"You're not listening!" yelled Yao.

"Guys, we don't know-" began Arthur.

"Remove my sister from death immediately," demanded Vash.

"SHUT UP!" exclaimed Yao. "You're not dead! You're not in heaven! The first challenge is cloud hopping!"

Gilbert snickered. "Cloud hopping? That's lame."

"It's harder than you think. It's the first challenge, we're not trying to eliminate people by the dozens, let alone kill our royal children."

"I suppose that makes sense," reasoned Ludwig.

"Good! Now sit down before I bring the Shades back out again!" the Keeper King demanded angrily as he straightened out his white Mao suit with gold trim and fixed his ponytail. Once he deemed himself presentable and the eight were in chairs behind a podium, Keeper Yao went forward to address the crowd. A race course of clouds twisting in and out of the area was set out before them. Most of the clouds had a stereotypical white fluffiness about them, but a fair few were gray and stormy. Off the steel platform hung twenty-five flags, each one gray and made of the same material as the outfits on their bodies. Lining the arena were steel bleacher-like structures that housed people of the Angel Queendom, their cream colored robes and rainbow assortment of wings making the light bounce.

"Hey! Why are there only angels here and why are they only wearing cream?" Gilbert asked, being the only one with the audacity and slight rudeness do question so bluntly.

Keeper Yao actually thought that this question was worth an answer. "The angels are the ones who set up this challenge and they don't only wear cream. Cream is the royal color of the angels; all peoples wear their royal colors curing festivals and ceremonies."

His mouth made an O shape, signifying he understood. Toward the other side of the arena, the twenty-eight contestants were lining up near planks, their parents seated behind them. Each was wearing clothing of similar make to the eight humans, their own royal colors instead of gray and the gray was on their belts instead of the humans' rainbow.

"We gather here today for the first challenge to win the hearts of the humans. The first challenge this time is Cloud Hopping, sponsored by the Angel Queendom. While this is merely the first challenge, take this as seriously as you can. Now, you stand as twenty-eight strong. By the end of this contest, three will be removed from your ranks. Losing here today does not make you weaker than your brethren: only a few were chosen to bond with humans to make peace, and only a few will do so now." The Keeper allowed his words to sink in, hoping his point made it into the distant hearts of all the royal brats, including his own.

"You must make your way to this side of the stadium and collect a flag, and then return to the other side. If you neglect to get flag on the way there, you may take one from your competitors. Those remaining in the stadium at the end, lose. If you fall through, you need to make your way back up to the arena and hope that there is still time. On the mark…"

"GO!"

The humans watched, fascinated, as twenty-eight Fae royalings dropped onto the soft clouds and ran with all their might to their side of the arena. About half of the children dropped through the clouds, either because of the way they landed, or their density alone. The Seelie Court Princes along with the Angel Prince and the Demon Princes were the first to make it. The Elder Demon Prince and the Angel Prince immediately began to fight over the same flag as the younger Prince slunk away. As the Seelie Princes made their way across, the eldest was stopped by the Unseelie Prince, who grabbed the flag out of the other's hand and made his way across, no one bothering to stop him. Poor Prince had to run back to get another.

The Keepers were neck and neck with the younger Unseelie child and smaller Poltergeist Princes, each yanking and pulling on eacher to try and make it first. Finally, the Angel and Demon Princes stopped arguing and became aware of the situation, opting to argue later and they each grabbed a different flag than the one they were arguing quarreling about. This is mostly because the Unseelie Princess had taken it from them. The Nature Princes and the Eldest Poltergeist Prince pushed up from underneath the clouds, each grabbing a flag and dropping under the cloud cover again. The Werewolf Cubs teamed up to push their way back through the growing crowd of royals. Finally, the flags were all gone and the poor Princes of the Vampyr and Magicka Clans remained. They went after a small group who had been making their way back, trying to yank away any flags they could. Prince Eduard and Prince Alin ended up wrestling with Prince Kaoru on their way back, the three trying to contain the two available flags.

Upon hitting the finish line, it was realized that poor Kaoru did not have a flag. The boy was sent to sit with Yao and the other humans. By the time he got there though, he wasn't alone. Mei, who had fallen through and failed to get back up in time to even wrestle away a flag, was accompanying her brother. Another accompanied them as well, Prince Ravis of the Seelie Court. Apparently the small boy wasn't able to get back fast enough to escape the Prince Roderich combined with the Dragon Princess Elizaveta, who wanted her friend to win.

And so went the first challenge, with Keeper Princess Mei Xiao, Keeper Prince Kaoru Wang, and Seelie Prince Ravis Galante eliminated from the competition.

**Well, I figured that you guys might not like it if I kept asking who they wanted gone and who they wanted to keep, so I made this giant list. I spent about three hours writing down every single one of the challenges (which was harder than one thinks), who was going to lose, who the ultimate winner was, who was paired with who, and basically how things are gonna go down. Then I spent forever writing the actual challenge scene. This thing is about eleven Microsoft Word pages long. I certainly hope you liked it. **


	8. You'd Think They'd Have Learned by Now

**Alright so I wrote this while watching Big Bang Theory… It's near midnight…**

**I'm sorry for not updating this earlier, but I've had a freakishly busy week and spent all day taking care of one kid after another with my bestie, who stays with us during the school year and is pretty much another sister to me. I haven't gotten to see her all summer! Those who recall will note that she is the one who encouraged me to write it and made the comment that inspired it. She also is the person who encourages most of my writing. So… yeah. I've been babysitting all day, busy working on my summer assignments all week (homework during vacation, yay), the works. Please forgive my long author's note.**

**Like I said last chapter, I now have the challenges and who wins and loses all planned out. The challenges are also not the end of the story. This whole thing goes into three arches (which I will not name because it will give it away). The first arch are the challenges of course.**

**Thanks to Cara Winters for following and favoriting the story!**

**Froggiecool: Well, I'm not exactly sure of the ending just yet. People are going to die, that's for sure. I have the first arch planned, but the second and third contain the meat of that kind of action. I do get what you're saying though. I also have deliberate reasons for getting rid of them (or at least two of them) so early. And thanks for the reassurance, but I guess the whole point was for the legends to be butchered, so I suppose there was nothing to worry about.**

**Izzy1229anime: It did, but I have a lot more to do. Thanks for your continued support with this!**

You'd Think They'd Have Learned by Now

_"Friends gotta trust each other, Stacey, 'cause ain't nothin' like a true friend."  
-_Mildred Taylor_, __Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry__, Ch. 4_

The small group of humans ate dinner around their narrow table quietly, not really knowing what to say to the three new additions to said tale. Apparently, it is customary for the losers of the previous challenge to eat a meal with the humans… except for if they're in the top eight and then they just continue to eat meals until the end of the games. Still, it was pretty awkward, especially since Mei just happened to be one of those at the table.

"So…" The broken silence made several whip up their heads, not expecting for someone to actually start any form of conversation. It was Ravis, who seemed uncomfortable with the idea of quiet for some reason.

"What's the human world like?" he asked, seeming genuinely interested in the world above. "I only caught a brief glimpse of it when we were travelling to the racing site; it seemed very… busy. It was the first time I've seen anything like it."

Lili tilted her head in confusion. "You mean you've never see the human world Prince Ravis?"

He shook his head. "No. We Seelie Fae aren't usually allowed to go up above, not until we are performing the ceremony to become an adult, but that doesn't happen until we're a century old! I'm only sixty."

Then there were a series of spit takes (only three). "YOU'RE SIXTY?"

A blink. "Yes…"

Keeper Yao sighed, "Fae age differently than humans do. Some Fae, meaning werewolves, witches, and changelings, have the same basic lifespan as humans. However, typically we live a lot longer. Seers and Keepers have about twice the lifespan of humans (me being an exception). Dragonoids, Angels, and Demons have about three or four times. Nature Spirits, Merfolk, and both kinds of Fairies can live a thousand years if they take care of themselves. Vampires and Poltergeist are practically immortal unless there are eradicated through some unnatural means."

Arthur smiled brightly, having been hanging on to every word. This world was becoming more and more fascinating to him as he got to explore the mechanisms of the creatures that had inspired him throughout his pre-high school years. "If you don't mind me asking Keeper Yao, why are you the exception? And what do you mean by unnatural?"

The Keeper smiled, happy to have such an avid learner amongst the midst of the humans. Not that they weren't all interested, all of them seemed to be paying attention, but Arthur seemed to have a special connection to this subject. "I'll answer the easier one first. When I said unnatural, I meant they can't die through natural causes. They have to be killed or 'eradicated' with Poltergeists, since they're technically already dead. Also, I'm the exception because when I was named Leader of the Keepers, they needed someone who would know every word of every text and until one of my children accomplishes the memorization, I cannot die for fear of the loss of their words."

Kaoru glared, "Well, it's not exactly an easy task."

Yao sighed knowingly, "I know, but I can't make an exception."

Michelle, who had already forgiven her, whispered to Mei, who was sitting next to her, "What's the deal with that?"

"Oh," Mei returned. "Kaoru is the youngest in the family and is slightly bitter at the rest of us siblings having already started learning the words of the texts. He wants to be Head of the Keepers, but he kind of doesn't have a chance. The only way he really was going to get what he wanted was this competition, because those who get human spouses automatically become Crown Prince or Princess, but you see how that worked out."

"Oh! So he's bitter?"

"Yeah. It also doesn't help that Kiku is father's favorite."

"Of course." Mei smiled at her friend.

"You know, I'm glad you've forgiven me."

"What's the point in being mad if you were just doing your job? Plus, I can tell the only thing you lied about was the being human and some history-slash-family stuff. You're still you, so it's cool."

"Thanks."

Freedom from the awkward getting-to-know-the-losers dinner was a relief to all, even Michelle. The dinner group separated with little conversation: Arthur and Yao going to the library, Kaoru going off to sulk, Ravis joining his brothers, the girls hanging out in their rec room, Alfred and Gilbert disturbing them in the rec room, Vash watching his sister as usual, and Ludwig trying to read a good book in nonexistent peace. All in all, everything was as expected.

"You know," Mei said. "I'm glad that I'm already out of the competition."

"Why's that?" asked Katyusha.

"Do you know how awkward it would be if I ended up marrying one of you guys? You three are my best friends and those five… well… not my top choices for husband material."

A chorus of giggles.

"HEY! The awesome me would make the most perfect awesome husband for any woman! They would be knocking down my door if I was just a bit more appreciated!"

"As if," retorted Alfred. "You can barely keep it in your pants and after seeing your small dick the girls would be running for the hills, laughing."

"What are you saying about my awesome five meters Jones?"

"Are we going into 'my penis is bigger than your penis' territory?"

"Yes, Michelle. I believe we are."

"Boys! Keep it in your pants before you embarrass yourselves."

"Can you compare our-"

"CEASE AT ONCE OR I WILL CASTRATE YOU!" Both boys looked over to the side to view the one who made the comment and were face to face with an angry Vash who had somehow gotten ahold of a letter opener. "Yes sir," they shakily replied before beating a hasty retreat, leaving behind an angry Vash and four amused females.

"Thank you big brother!" Lili said and she hugged her brother. He gently returned the hug before excusing him and his sister to tuck her in.

"Well," said Mei. "Nice to see a bonding moment between brother and sister."

Michelle pouted, "I wish my older brother would do that."

Mei shrugged, "Arthur's too busy masturbating over magical history with his new guy pal."

"Mei! Don't talk about your father that way!" Katyusha gasped, reprimanding her friend's behavior.

"Meh… Dad never really hangs out with anyone but Kiku, and besides, I doubt he would care."

"But he is your father! It still is disrespectful to talk about him that way."

"I suppose."

An awkward silence descended over the girls bfre Michelle broke in, "Anyone up for a movie?"

"Let's watch Paranormal Activity 3! I heard it's really creepy!"

"Kay!"

Ludwig sat in his chair and looked up from his book, suddenly noticing that he was alone in the rec room. Carefully marking his page and laying the book on the table, he turned in for the night with one thought in mind:

_I tuned out after Gilbert decided to stop poking me… I wonder what made everyone leave._

Meanwhile, somewhere deep within the bowels of the hallway that housed Ludwig's room, two idiots were waiting with honey and a trip wire.

Thirty minutes later, they would be promptly returned to their rooms tied up with said trip wire and covered in bruises.

The next day each of them were greeted by a recording from Keeper Yao.

"_My young human friends, today you are rather lucky. This next challenge is being sponsored by the Vampires, so it is taking place at midnight. Feel free to goof off for the rest of the day in whatever clothes you find around the room. An hour or so before the ceremony, you will be asked to get ready, and then I will transport you to the site of the challenge. Enjoy your day."_

Eight pairs of sleepy eyes took in the recording that looked like something from the Star Wars movies with mixtures of shock and wonder. Three of those pairs promptly decided that they were going back to sleep.

Meanwhile, the other five began their day Ludwig found some workout clothes (gray) and headed to the training room he saw near his quarters. Vash took a quick shower, dressed (gray also), and went to look for some kind of projectile practicing area, preferably for guns. Unfortunately, he would soon learn that due to the many vampires, werewolves, and nature spirits (along with some ghosts) residing in the area, guns were prohibited. It made them uneasy. Lili ended up getting ready rather quickly (in gray) and then headed off to see if she could find her brother. She didn't (she didn't know where to look), but she did find a sewing room and decided to make him a gift, a set of pink frilly pajamas to be exact. Arthur took his time that morning, enjoying his shower and then breakfast with a nice cup of tea before dressing (gray) and heading to the library again, this time to find books on magic and why witches (aka wicca or the Magika Clan) seemed to be the only ones that did magic, not just having powers. Finally, Katyusha had decided to enjoy a simple breakfast and relax in a nice hot bath. After she dressed (gray), she managed to work her way into helping in the local gardens. It was hard work, but all the more satisfying because of it.

When Alfred, Gilbert, and Michelle finally woke up, it was time for lunch. The rest of the day was pretty cut and dry. There was some squabbling (Alfred vs. Arthur, Arthur vs. Michelle, Gilbert vs. Ludwig, Gilbert vs. Alfred, Gilbert vs. Michelle, Gilbert vs. Vash, and Gilbert vs. Arthur), but overall not really anything happened. It was a bit of a shock really. You almost expected someone to walk in and announce something that would change everything. You almost expected for one of the competitors to show up and start flirting or acting creepy around everyone. In fact the only person to visit them at all besides the Shades was Mei, and that was very briefly to say hi to the girls. It was after dinner before anyone decided to approach the subject.

"Is anyone else totally creeped out?" Gilbert asked.

"I actually understand you for once Gilbert," Arthur replied. "I haven't seen anyone in library all day, not even Keeper Yao."

"I didn't see anyone in the gym," Ludwig commented.

"Or in the gardens!" Katyusha added.

"Or the rec room," Michelle worried.

"Not the baths either!" Alfred put in. This was followed by several stares. "What? They were comfy!"

"It's like we're in a-"

"Don't say it Gilbert!"

"-ghost castle."

Alfred glanced warily from side to side, "You don't really think…"

Arthur glared at the albino. "Now you've done it!"

"What? What did I do?"

Ludwig whispered in his idiot brother's ear. "Ooooh! So little Alfie's afraid of ghosts? Kesesesesese~!"

"N-no! I'm just worried for everyone's safety!"

"Then why are you shaking?"

"It's cold!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is no- "

"Please stop acting like children."

Eventually they all decided it was a good idea to turn in early so that they could be ready to stay awake for the challenge. It wouldn't look good, after all, for them to fall asleep while observing their potential spouses compete for their hands. When Yao came to collect them, he gave each of them a pair of dark gray skinny jeans and a stick-to-your-skin t-shirt along with some gray converses. There was some complaining from Michelle about the mono-colored clothing, but a swift glare from Yao and a kick in the shins from Arthur snuffed it out.

The second trip on the elevator was nowhere near as dramatic as the first, partially because they weren't going nearly as high as before, which mean they weren't going to go faster than the speed of sound. A more or less gentle ascension brought them to the top of the Statue of Liberty in New York, New York. This time there was a much smaller crowd than before, all dressed in various styles from all the time periods, each showing at least one article of clothing with a dark red-orange. The royals were once again all sitting together, the ones already eliminated amongst them. The two Keeper royalings sat separately, their father having to be with the humans. Surprisingly, a small portal screen showed the competitors, who were apparently in Frankfurt, Germany, if the tall buildings and the sign behind them was to be believed. Yao stepped up to the podium in front of the humans, who found themselves in plush velvet chairs.

"We gather here today for the second challenge to win the hearts of the humans. This challenge is a race through the night in some of the world's busiest cities, sponsored by the Vampire Clan. This challenge tests your speed, your ability to handle a time limit, and your ability to handle blending among humans. You will travel through Frankfurt, Germany in hopes of finding a portal, which will take you to Chicago, Illinois. There, you will repeat the process to find another portal which will take you to Singapore. Again, you will locate a portal that will take you to London, England. Then you will go to Beijing, China, Mumbai, India, Hong Kong, Moscow, Russia, Tokyo, Japan, and finally here, to New York City. You must make it through each city without attracting too much attention to yourself. You cannot attack any humans. You may defend yourself if they were unprovoked and attack you. You cannot get arrested. The last one to New York will be removed from the competition. You have until dawn. Go!"

The humans watched as twenty-five individual screens showed different competitors travelling through the crowded Frankfurt. Some members had already decided that working in groups would be better than trying it alone. The remaining Seelie princes, Toris and Eduard were being followed by the Unseelie Prince Ivan. ("As long as Ivan keeps a level head nothing bad will happen there. But Ivan rarely keeps a level head.") The Angel and Demon Crown prince were glaring at each other with the other poor Demon prince looking like he was only there to keep them from fighting. ("A disaster waiting to happen.") The other Keepers royalings had decided to work together in hopes that none would be eliminated that way. ("I'm glad my children actually are managing to get along for once. They rarely do so, but pooling their resources will help them in the long run.") The Werewolf royalings and the Vampire Prince had actually decided to work together, much to the shock of the human fangirls observing. ("I don't understand why you humans think vampires and werewolves don't work together," Yao had told them. "Their Clans have always been Allies. They have to be, being such territorial creatures. If they weren't, then their communication would be shot and they would be having disputes every day. You want to groups that are natural enemies? Try Angels and Demons, or Unseelie and Seelie, or even Dragons and Changelings. Those groups are just violence just waiting to happen.")

The Dragonoid Princess Elizaveta and the Wicca Prince Roderich were working together with the Seer and Merfolk Princes. ("There's a good group. They're all good friends and have a wide variety of skills. The only thing to worry about is if they cross paths with the Werewolf-Vampire group or Antonio tries to grope Lovino again.") The Poltergeist Princes just kinda floated through the crowd, being followed discreetly by the Changeling Prince Feliks. ("I really should have remembered that ghosts can be invisible to the most human eyes and Feliks has been in the human world plenty of times. Still, if the Poltergeist princes manage to knock anything over it will cause more problems than if one of the other groups start a fight. Can't have mass panic can we?") The final group was just the Nature Spirit Princes, who were flitting through the crowd, trying to stay as close to vegetation and water as they could. ("Ah! Nature Spirits, if I haven't already said, are Nymphs. You know: Naiads, Dryads, Aurae, Oreads, Lampades, etc.* Well, they can't get too far away from what they animate. Prince Matthew is a Dryad, so he needs to be near trees. King Francis is a Anthousai, so he needs to be near flowers. They're probably the most at risk with this challenge because bustling cities don't usually inhibit nature.")

The first ones to get out of Frankfurt were -surprise surprise- the Keeper group. They pretty much dashed out of there. Closely following behind in order were the Werewolf-Vampire group, the Ghost-Changeling group, the really Mixed up group. A little further back were the Faeries, then Angel-Demon group, and in dead last were the Nymphs.

The hopped from city to city in a blur. Even as the cities got bigger, some groups began notice patterns others did not. The Werewolf-Vampire group pulled ahead in London and the Really-Mixed-Up group managed to get a little further ahead of the Ghost-Changeling group when they got lost in Beijing and somehow randomly found the portal. It began to look like the end for one of the Nature Princes until suddenly, an argument started in the Angel-Demon Group in Mumbai when the Angel Prince complained about the coolness of the night. ("How is it night in all these differently places?" asked Arthur. "Oh!" Yao replied. "I put a spell on the portals to make sure that it took them to the cities at night. Some of the cities are actually a few hours forward or behind in time.") The argument allowed for the Nymphs to get a bit closer to their competitors, but not yet pass them. In Moscow, the Faery group actually pulled ahead of the Ghost-Changeling group, due to the Unseelie prince actually offering to help because he knew the layout of the city so well. Things were going pretty well, the Werewolf-Vampire group constantly switching out first place with the Keepers. The Really Mixed Up group managed to maintain a steady third while the Faeries and the Ghost-Changeling group were trying desperately to pass one another. Finally, all the groups managed to get into New York. Every single group was looking for a shortcut to the Statue of Liberty to meet up with those waiting. Strangely enough, the Faeries got there first because they managed to get to a point where no humans could see them and just flew to the top. Next was the Keeper group, who had somehow scaled the thing and soon after was the Vampire-Werewolf group accompanied by the Mixed-Up group, mostly because somehow they got Roderich to agree to give them all a lift to the top. The Poltergeists came up next, followed by a disgruntled Prince Feliks who had had to use his powers to stick himself to the Lady. Still, there was no sign of the Nature or the Angel-Demon group.

Keeper Yao looked up at the bored and then immediate burst out laughing. Up there was a large picture of an angry Prince Hercules and Prince Sadiq being arrested. Apparently a fight had broken out that the younger Prince Gupta couldn't handle, and the two began simply destroying everthing. Someone had reported the destruction they wrought and the two, knowing they couldn't fight back, let themselves be handcuffed. Prince Gupta had stalked off to the Statue anyway, but… that was when the Nymphs arrived. "Are we the last ones?" Prince Matthew asked, gasping for air.

"No," Yao said smiling. "Gupta is." Then the aforementioned prince arrived, took in his surroundings, and sighed in defeat. He looked up dejectedly, "Since they broke the rules, are they out as well?"

Keeper Yao nodded and so went the second challenge with Demon Prince Gupta Muhammad Hassan eliminated. Angel Crown Prince Hercules Karpusi and Demon Crown Prince Sadiq Adnan have been eliminated due to a failure to follow the requirements.

**Thus goes chapter seven. I'm sitting here on my computer at four am, knowing I am about to get only three hours of sleep and then am going to stay up late tonight. A nice nap in the afternoon will have to do. I hope you all love me for this. By the way, I found out what was causing me such severe unnatural pain these last two weeks. The blood clot on that one side got loose and got down into the side that was healing on my jaw. It put pressure on it and wouldn't come out. So small to cause so much agony. Anyway, they gave me a syringe to clean it out. You should have seen the look on my face when they told me I had to use one, I was thinking a syringe with needles. I gave my mom a look that said, "Make me do this and I'll just end up screaming and making your life hell." (I don't like needles.)**

***Nymphs are Ancient Greek nature spirits.. there are five basic types: water, land, plants, underworld, and celestial. These types are then divided into the specific ones, which are also occasionally further divided. **

**For those who guess how many times the title for this chapter applies, I will give a virtual hug. If you get it right, I'll give you a virtual cookie too!**

**Did I mention that I've been putting some of my favorite classic lit. book quotes up there? I seriously love the books and I promise that I will only and have only put the quotes of books I have actually read. I first read **_**Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry**_** in the fourth grade and even now that book brings me to tears.**


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